Turkish oil imports from Iran rise five-fold

Ankara, September 29, 2012

Official data confirmed the near five fold jump in Turkey's Iranian crude oil imports in August, when its refiner Tupras imported more than 221,000 barrels per day (bpd), compared to the multi-year low 48,000 bpd in July.

Some of the shipments that arrived in August were lifted in July however as the official trade data is compiled on the basis of the arrival date.

Shipping sources and tracking data showed earlier in September that around 200,000 bpd of crude oil were discharged at the import terminals of Aliaga and Tutunciftlik.

The United States gave several countries sanction waivers after they cut imports prior to the imposition of the full embargo. Turkey was granted a 180-day exception from sanctions from June 11 as a result of an initial 20 percent cut from its contracted volumes at around 180,000 bpd.

EU sanctions aimed at the region's marine insurance sector has effectively cut off all usual avenues for tanker insurance, making Tupras wholly reliant on Iranian-owned tankers to import crude.

According to official data Turkey's monthly crude oil imports hit this year's peak in August, totalling at 495,440 bpd and showed a 44 percent rise from July's 343,891 bpd.

Turkey's biggest supplier in August was Iran, followed by Saudi Arabia and Iraq.-Reuters